FIFA World Cup 2014 Group A
As hosts Brazil were seeded and opened the tournament against Croatia in São Paulo. Mexico had beaten Brazil in seven out of their last 13 meetings and their under-23 side beat Brazil in the 2012 Olympics final. The final top two placings were decided on goal difference, FIFA having reverted to this simple way of separating teams level on points.
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Brazil
Croatia
Brazil 3 Croatia 1
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Arena de São Paulo
12 June 2014
Brazil had to work hard against a spirited Croatian side that took the game to the hosts. An unfortunate own goal by Mercello (11') put Croatia into the lead early on but Neymar equalised with a scuffed short from 25 metres in the 29th minute. Neymar scored again with a controversial penalty 19 minutes from full-time and Oscar added a third from a break away in the last minute.
Mexico
Cameroon
Mexico 1 Cameroon 0
Arena das Dunas, Natal
13 June 2014
Mexico dominated and had two seemingly legitimate goals disallowed before Peralta slotted home a rebound with an hour played.
Brazil
Mexico
Brazil 0 Mexico 0
Estádio Castelão, Fortaleza
17 June 2014
Mexico have an excellent record against Brazil and from the off, they showed they were not going to be intimidated by the hosts. Brazil relied far too much on Neymar to marshall their attacks while Fred made virtually no contribution. Guillermo Ochoa, the Mexican goalkeeper, had an outstanding game, keeping out several point blank afforts as well as a miraculous tip round the post that was compared with Gordon Banks' famous save in 1970. An hour in, Fred was replaced by Jô and Brazil finally woke up but there was no scoring despite some breathless end-to-end play.
Cameroon
Croatia
Cameroon 0 Croatia 4
Arena da Amazônia, Manaus
18 June 2014
Croatia put their opening defeat behind them with a clinical performance against a Cameroon side who buckled after a promising start. This defeat meant that the African side was eliminated while the Croats would progress if they beat Mexico in their last group match.
Cameroon
Brazil
Cameroon 1 Brazil 4
Estádio Nacional Mané Garrincha, Brasilia
23 June 2014
Two goals from the brilliant Neymar set Brazil on course for an overwhelming win and first place in Group A.
Croatia
Mexico
Croatia 1 Mexico 3
Arena Pernambuco, Recife
23 June 2014
A win for either side would have seen them through to the last 16 but going into the last 20 minutes there were still no goals. Then Mexico struck three times in rapid succession and the only question left was whether they would top the group on goal difference. A late goal in Brasilia and a strike by Croatia's Perisic settled matters.